Levittown: Affordable homes, modernized image draw buyers

Hempstead Turnpike is a main thoroughfare through the community and... — Hempstead Turnpike is a main thoroughfare through the community and is home to shopping centers like Levittown Mews. Credit: Rick Kopstein

By Ellen YanSpecial to NewsdaySeptember 30, 2024 5:00 am

THE SCOOP Once a mass-produced American dream for World War II GIs, Levittown has been shedding its cookie cutter and anti-diversity image while retaining the promise of affordability.

The suburban dream is still reflected in the hamlet's eight pools, several sports fields and Levittown Hall, which developer Levitt & Sons built in 1951 as a community space that locals and groups book for free to hold concerts, plays and other events.

It's a community that shows spirit, residents said. Each year, they vote in contests for the best-decorated houses for Halloween and year-end holidays. The "Gazebo Gang," a group of veterans, takes on projects to spiff up the community, including installing a gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park. Little Levittown, at Division Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike, features miniatures of Levitt homes, built by locals and Division Avenue High School students.

"It's a comfortable community to live in," said Louise Cassano, a Levittown Chamber of Commerce board member who was 7 when her family moved to a three-bedroom Cape in 1951. "Everybody gets along very well here."

MacLaren Stadium is home to multiple sports fields. Credit: Rick Kopstein

Levittown has departed from its roots. Original Cape and ranch homes raised by the thousands from 1947 to 1951 are a sort of endangered species as families built add-ons or major expansions, locals said. Levitt & Sons put covenants requiring the properties be sold only to whites, but nowadays, minorities and more affluent house hunters have been moving in.

Buyers like the community due to its proximity to some of the county's top shopping areas and New York City, locals said.

In the past five years, a good number of houses, rebuilt and supersized, have been listed at $1 million and above, a changing landscape that has made some residents uncomfortable, Cassano said.

But prices in general are still lower than those of surrounding communities, perhaps reflecting Levittown's blue-collar, bargain roots, said former Levittown resident Chris Costa, a Coldwell Banker agent who has been working in the area for more than a decade.

"As home prices have skyrocketed and become out of reach for the more affluent professionals, Levittown has taken on new value," Costa said. "If you look around the communities of Levittown ... you'll find upscale neighborhoods with beautifully renovated and expanded homes, more high-earning, educated professionals as buyers."

Homes along Raspberry Lane, top, and Stonecutter Road in Levittown. Credit: Rick Kopstein

CONDOS AND CO-OPS There is one condo, priced at $390,000, on the market.

SALE PRICES Between Sept. 4, 2023, and Sept. 3, 2024, there were 356 home sales with a median sale price of $650,000, according to OneKey MLS. During that period a year earlier, there were 400 home sales with a median sale price of $587,500.

OTHER STATS

Population 50,804

Median age 42.3

Median home value $677,500

Monthly LIRR ticket from Hicksville $287

School districts, graduation rates Levittown (97%), Island Trees (96.8%), East Meadow (94.7%)

Libraries Levittown, Island Trees, East Meadow

Transit Nassau Inter-county Express Bus Route 70

Sources: 2022 American Community Survey; OneKey MLS via InfoSparks by ShowingTime; LIRR, data.nysed.gov

ON THE MARKET

$1.1 million

Sitting on a corner lot, this five-bed, three-bath house has been modernized and supersized from its 1951 beginnings. It features a two-story-high entrance with a chandelier and an open layout with a large kitchen and first-floor fireplace. Sliding glass doors in the kitchen open to a stone patio and a one-car garage. Taxes are $9,230. Richard Krug, Coldwell Banker American Homes, 516-673-8775

$849,999

Built in 1948, this six-bed, two-bath house has a hardwired fire alarm, inground sprinklers and an updated electrical system. The first floor has a bedroom, updated eat-in kitchen with a pantry, a formal dining room and a den. The roof was replaced in 2018 and there are leased solar panels, along with a 1½-car garage. Taxes are $15,636. Shaughnessy Dusling, Real Broker NY, 631-612-1616

$569,000

Made partly of stone, this Cape reflects what a Levitt & Sons home was like when it was built in 1948. There are three bedrooms, including one on the first floor, one bath and an eat-in kitchen. The fenced-in backyard features a landscape with trees and flowering plants, a patio and a one-car garage. Taxes are $8,730. William Rahner, Re/Max, 516-382-5387.

RECENTLY SOLD

$1.5 million

Greenbelt Lane

Style Colonial

Bedrooms 5

Bathrooms 5

Built 2024

Lot size 0.14 acre

Taxes $10,665

+/- List price -$28,888

Days on market 84

$820,000